Wide mouth tubular container construction

ABSTRACT

A wide mouth, screw top, end member for a tubular container, and a fiber board tubular container incorporating said end member, a jar lid, and a bottom closure. The end member includes a peripheral groove formed by concentric flanges, and a mouthforming flange that extends in the opposite direction from that in which the groove opens and which is offset inwardly from the groove yet is large with respect to the container diameter, is externally threaded and terminates in a flat annular surface of increased width. The inner flange forming the groove is substantially greater in length axially of the member than the outer flange and the bottom of the groove has a diminished cross sectional area. The tubular container is formed of body plies and includes a foil liner ply that provides a metal-to-metal seal along a lap seam.

WIDE MOUTH TUBULAR CONTAINER CONSTRUCTION [7 5] Inventor: Paul W. Stump, North Olmsted,

Ohio

[73] Assignee: Clevepak Corporation, Cleveland,

Ohio

[22] Filed: July 29, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 167,417

[52] US. Cl ..229/43, 222/573, 229/3.5 MF, 229/5.5 [51] Int. Cl. ..B65d 5/64 [58] Field of Search ..229/43, 3.5 MP, 4.5, 229/55; 220/66; 222/569, 570; 215/73 [56] 7 References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,309,341 1/1943 Condon ..229/43 3,156,401 11/1964 Krause 229/45 3,157,337 11/1964 Elam 229/45 2,251,808 8/1941 Rutkowski... ..229/5.5 3,656,668 4/1972 Liebertz ..222/570 2,743,844 5/1956 Livingstone ..215/73 UX 412,366 10/1889 Chamberlain ..229/5.5

[ 1 May 22, 1973' FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 448,570 5/1948 Canada.. ..229/5.s 560,592 4/1944 Great Britain ..229/5.s

[5 7] ABSTRACT A wide mouth, screw top, end member for a tubular container, and a fiber board tubular container incorporating said end member, a jar lid, and a bottom closure. The end member includes a peripheral groove formed by concentric flanges, and a mouth-forming flange that extends in the opposite direction from that in which the groove opens and which is offset inwardly from the groove yet is large with respect to the container diameter, is externally threaded and terminates in a flat annular surface of increased width. The inner flange forming the groove is substantially greater in length axially of the member than the outer flange and the bottom of the groove has a diminished cross sectional area. The tubular container is formed of body plies and includes a foil liner ply that provides a metalto-metal seal along a lap scam.

1 Claim, 3 Drawing Figures WIDE MOUTH TUBULAR CONTAINER CONSTRUCTION BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to containers and container construction, specifically wound fiber board tubular containers.

2. Prior art Products such as dry food stuffs are often marketed in wide-mouth glass jars. These jars utilize screw-top lids and as a result are convenient to open and close and the contents can be readily dispensed with a spoon. In addition, the glass bodies are inherently impermeable and can be hermetically sealed with a screw lid sometimes in combination with a frangible sealing disc across the container mouth.

Various fiber type tubular containers for this type product have been known for some time, as illustrated by US. Pat. No. 345,931 issued in 1886. Nevertheless, and notwithstanding the cost and weight advantages of fiber bodies over glass, many dry food products are still supplied in screw top glass containers. It is believed that a primary reason for this is because no satisfactory wide-mouth, screw top, hermetically tight fiber board container has been available.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a wide-mouth, screwtop, end member for a tubular container and an improved fiber board container and end member combination, especially suitable for packaging dry food stuffs and which will permit hermetic sealing.

The improved top end member of this invention provides, for a fiber container, a wide mouth characteristic of that found in jars, peripherally inset slightly from the container body. This wide-mouth construction not only facilitates dispensing of the contents, but also the peripheral inset, in combination with a recessed bottom end closure, facilitates stacking with increased stability.

The mouth of the end closure is externally threaded to receive a screw cap, and because of the large diameter, substantial torque is applied to the end closure when a cap is applied. Relative rotation between the top end member and the tubular body that forms the container is effectively resisted by the construction of the top end member, which receives the end of the tubular body in a peripheral groove formed by inner and outer concentric flanges. The inner flange is of substantial axial length, sufficient to provide a large area of overlap between the tubular body and the end member. This not assures a high frictional resistance against relative rotation, but also a substantial area for adherence and sealing with an adhesive, preferably a thermoplastic adhesive or so called hot melt. An adhesive bond and seal in facilitated by the groove construction, which diminishes in cross sectional area at the bottom. The reduced area limits the extent to which the tubular body can be inserted in the groove and preserves a reservoir for excess adhesive, assuring a continuous seal without unsightly squeeze-out. By making the inner flange of greater length axially of the container than the outer flange, the desirable functional advantages mentioned above are obtained while keeping the visible flange at the top to a minimum, generally comparable in size to an external flange on a bottom closure member of the container. The external flanges on the top and bottom members are also of the same outside diameter so that the containers can be conveyed by rollmg.

When many food stuffs are packaged with screw lid containers, a frangible closure disc or seal is secured across the mouth of the container, beneath the lid. Such a seal is facilitated by an increased width and flat circular surface about the mouth of the top end member.

The tubular body of the preferred construction of the container embodying this invention is formed of fiber board plies helically wound and adhered together. Two or more body plies of kraft paper or chipboard are used, with an inner or liner ply and an outer or label ply of thinner paper backed foil. in both the inner and the outer ply, the foil surface is exposed. One marginal edge of the inner ply is folded over upon itself, foil side out, and overlaps the opposite marginal edge after one turn or winding, so as to present opposed metal-tometal faces along a lap joint. The opposed faces are adhered by an adhesive to provide a moisture barrier and gas impermeable liner.

From the above it will be appreciated that an object of this invention is to provide a container formed of a tubular body, especially a fiber board tubular body, with a wide mouth screw top and general shape of a jar, useful for packaging certain types of products usually packaged in glass jars, and which facilitates hermetic sealing and stacking in storage and is adapted to use the standard caps or lids and sealing apparatus now used with jars. This and other objects features and advantages of the invention will become better understood from the detailed description that follows, when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a tubular container embodying the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the container of FIG. 1 taken along a longitudinal plane through line 22 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a portion of FIG. 2 showing constructional details.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A container 10 is shown in FIG. 1 embodying the present invention and having a wide mouth, screw top, especially suitable for packaging dry food stuffs and the like. The container 10 is comprised of a cylindrical tubular body 12, a top end member 14 secured to one end of the tubular body 12, a bottom end member or closure member 16 secured to the opposite end of the tubular body 12, and a screw cap 18 of the typical jar lid construction, for closing the top end member 14. Optionally, a closure disc or seal 20 of a frangible nature (shown in FIG. 2) can be provided to further seal the top end member 14. The tubular body 12, shown, is formed of helically wound strips of fiber board plies, as will be explained below in more detail.

The top end member 14 is preferably formed of a suitable molded plastic, such as high impact polystyrene, and includes a circular peripheral groove 22 formed by two concentric circularflanges 24, 25, and a mouth-forming flange 28 extending in the opposite direction from the concentric flanges. The groove 22 corresponds in diameter to the diameter of the cylindrical tubular body 12. The mouth-forming flange is inset radially from the concentric flanges, but is of relatively larger diameter. External threads 30 are formed about the mouth-forming flange for securing the screw cap 18.

To establish substantial frictional inter-relationship in a large surface area for adhesion of the top end member 14 to the tubular body 12, the inner concentric flange 24 is of substantial length axially of the tubular body. This serves to prevent relative rotation between the top end member 14 and the tubular body when the screw cap 18 is torqued to a tight, closed, condition during capping. Relative rotation is a greater problem with a wide mouth container than it would be with a smaller diameter opening, because of the greater mechanical advantage due to the generally peripheral location of the rotational force applied to the top end member 14. The large surface contact area provided by the length of the inner flange 24 further aids in establishing an effective hermetic seal between the body and top end member. Also, the greater axial extent of the inner flange and an externally beveled edge 24a facilitates assembly by aligning the top member relative to the body before the body end must enter the groove 22. An inwardly facing beveled edge 25a on the smaller flange also aids in assembling the parts and permits a tight fit of the body in the groove. The smaller external flange also presents a better appearance. Typically, the smaller external flange will be no more than half of the axial length of the inner flange and preferably between one third and one fourth the length.

The bottom of the groove 22 is of reduced cross sectional area, created by an inclined end surface 32 that increases the depth of the groove in a radially outward direction. An adhesive 33 (FIG. 3) is provided within the groove, between the inner and outer surfaces of the tubular body and the adjacent concentric flanges 24, 25. The area of reduced cross section provided by the inclined surface 32 limits the extent to which the tubular body 12 can enter the groove 22, and because the body wall is of uniform thickness, a reservoir is thereby preserved at the bottom of the groove, for the adhesive. This allows an adequate amount of adhesive to be provided, without the risk of squeeze-out. It further aids in providing a continuous seal between the end of the tubular body 12 and the top end member 14, assuring an hermetic seal even if the adhesive fails to form a continuous bond directly-between the inner and outer concentric flanges and the facing inner and outer wall surfaces of the tubular body.

An upper edge or lip 36 of the mouth-forming flange 28 terminates in a flat surface 37 of greater width than the major portion of the flange 28, to provide a seat for the closure disc or seal 20. The disc, which may be of coated or treated paper, or plastic, is typically adhered with an adhesive or the like to the flat surface 37 to seal the container opening.

The tubular body 12, as shown, is comprised of two helically wound body plies 40, 41 of kraft paper or chipboard, each turn of the body ply forming a butjoint with the next and each body ply being adhered to the other. An outer label ply 44 surrounds the outer body ply 41 and one edge 45 of each turn of the ply is slightly lapped over the opposite edge 46. An inner or liner ply 48 is adhered to the outwardly facing surface of the inner body ply 41 and one edge 49 is folded back upon itself inwardly and overlaps the opposite edge 50 of the ply. Both the label ply 44 and the inner or liner ply 48 are formed of paper backed foil and are substantially thinner than the body plies. The foil surface of each faces outwardly of the central body plies and are substantially impervious to gas and moisture. Typically, the label and liner ply may have a foil thickness of about 0.00035 inch bonded to 25 pound kraft paper and the body plies may suitably have a thickness of approximately 0.013 to 0.016 inch. With the edge 49 of the inner ply folded over upon itself, a foil surface is presented to the overlapped opposite edge 50 so that a metal-to-metal seal is obtained. The overlapping edge is adhered to the overlapped edge by adhesive and forms a moisture-proof seal that resists wicking of moisture that would otherwise be possible through an exposed edge of the backing paper exposed in a typical lap joint of the type used with the label ply.

The bottom end member 16 is constructed either of metal or of a molded plastic material, such as polystyrene. The member 16 includes a circular closure wall 52 and a circular peripheral groove 54 for receiving the bottom end of the cylindrical tubular body 12. The groove is formed by a flange 56 that is generally U- shaped in cross section and that extends from the periphery of the wall 52. The closure wall 52 is recessed upwardly with respect to the peripheral groove, so as to telescope within the end of the tubular body. This recessed bottom end member facilitates a stacking of the container, since the inside diameter of the recessed portion is larger than the screw cap 18 that fits the top end member 14. When the bottom end member 16 is of metal, the outer end of the groove-forming flange 56 is crimped inward, as shown, to securely adhere the end member to the tubular body. When a plastic end member is used and optionally when a metal member is used, an adhesive, such as a hot melt or the like, is provided in the groove 54 for retaining the plastic end member and to assure a hermetic and moisture-proof seal between the bottom end member and the tubular body.

In characterizing the top end member 14 as having a wide mouth, it is intended that the diameter of the mouth-forming flange 28 be equal to at least percent of the inside diameter of the groove 22. Advantageously, the mouth is formed in sizes compatible with standard screw caps, and a wide variety of sizes are available.

The ability of the inner concentric circular flange 24 forming the groove 22 to provide a large frictional area of contact between the top end member and the tubular body is assured by providing an axial length to the flange at least equal to ten percent of the diameter of the mouth-forming flange. With this relationship main tained as the diameter of the end member is changed for different size containers, the area in frictional and adhered contact with the tubular member will increase proportionally to resist the greater applied torque to which the end member is apt to be subjected when the mouth diameter is increased.

In the preferred embodiment shown, the diameter of the mouth-forming flange28 is approximately 87 percent of the inside diameter of the groove 22 and the axial length of the inner concentric flange 24 is approximately 14 percent of the outside diameter of the mouth-forming flange.

While a preferred embodiment of this invention has been described in detaiL'it will be apparent that various modifications or alterations may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

A wide mouth, screw top, hermetically tight, fiberboard tubular container comprising:

. a first end member of molded plastic with a peripheral circular groove that receives an end of the tubular body and a mouth-forming flange extending in a direction opposite to that in which the groove opens, said groove being formed by inner and outer concentric flanges, the inner flange being substantially greater in length axially of the tubular body than the outer flange and a bottom portion of the groove having a diminished cross-sectional area, and said mouth-forming flange being externally threaded, inwardly recessed relative to said outer concentric flange yet substantially large in diameter with respect to the diameter of the tubular body, and terminating in a flat circular surface of greater width than the major portion of the flange,

. a second end member having a closure wall recessed with respect to the end of the tubular body opposite from that received in the first end member and a peripheral groove that receives said end of the tubular body, said second end member being of equal outside diameter to that of said first end member,

d. a thermoplastic adhesive material within the groove of each end member sealing the juncture between the tubular body and the end members, and,

e. a screw cap threadedly engaged with said first end member. 

1. A wide mouth, screw top, hermetically tight, fiberboard tubular container comprising: a. a tubular body of adhered, helically wound plies, including at least two fiberboard body plies formed of strips of material and an inside or liner ply formed of a strip of paper-backed metal foil, one marginal edge of which is folded over upon the ply and overlaps the opposite edge of the strip to present opposed metal-to-metal faces, and an adhesive joining said faces, b. a first end member of molded plastic with a peripheral circular groove that receives an end of the tubular body and a mouth-forming flange extending in a direction opposite to that in which the groove opens, said groove bEing formed by inner and outer concentric flanges, the inner flange being substantially greater in length axially of the tubular body than the outer flange and a bottom portion of the groove having a diminished cross-sectional area, and said mouth-forming flange being externally threaded, inwardly recessed relative to said outer concentric flange yet substantially large in diameter with respect to the diameter of the tubular body, and terminating in a flat circular surface of greater width than the major portion of the flange, c. a second end member having a closure wall recessed with respect to the end of the tubular body opposite from that received in the first end member and a peripheral groove that receives said end of the tubular body, said second end member being of equal outside diameter to that of said first end member, d. a thermoplastic adhesive material within the groove of each end member sealing the juncture between the tubular body and the end members, and, e. a screw cap threadedly engaged with said first end member. 